Folding bed



E. c. BROWN. FOLDING BED.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5,1915.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

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E. C. BROWN FOLDING BED.

APPLICATION FILED CT. 5, I9I5.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

2 SHEETS-S INI/avion wmvwwwvmwwwvwwwwwwwvmvwmvwwqwwvwwmmm.000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000N0N0N00N0N0N0M0N0v00000000%000000 0000000000000000000000000000 PATENT OFFICE.

ELIZABETH C. BROWN', 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING BED.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan, 25 1921.

Application led October 5. 1915. Serial No. 54,137.

To all w17 omv1 11mg/ concern Be it. known that I, ELIZABETH (l. BROWN,

-a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of N ew York,borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented acertain new and useful Folding Bed, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention is a folding bed, the same being intended, moreparticularly, as an improvement upon the structure disclosed in apriorapplication filed by me on Nov. 6, 1914, serial No. 870,562.

As disclosed in the prior application, the invention embodies twomattress supporting members positioned in horizontal planes one abovethe other, one of said members being stationary and the other memberbeing associated with means whereby it may be raised, lowered, andlocked in said raised or lowered positions said two members affordingprovision for converting a compact sized structure into a double bed atwill.

In my present invention the object is to improve the apparatus of theprior application in several important particulars with a view tosimplifying the structure by the omission of parts without loss offunction and at the same time to retain all the desirable features inrespect to the ready conversion of the structure so as to accommodateone person or two persons at will; further, to render the operation ofraising or of lowering one member easy and rapid, further to retain themember to be raised or lowered securely in the position to which it maybe shifted without resorting to more or less complicated locking means,and 1inally to obtain economy in the manufacture of the structure.

A salient feature of this invention consists of worm or spiral gearingas elements of the hoisting mechanism whereby the movablemattress-supporting member may be raised or lowered at will and at thesame time said worm or spiral gearing operates to securelyv retain saidmember in the position to which it may be shifted or adjusted,

thereby dispensing with separate lockingl means.

Another feature of some importance consists in the employment of postsfor the movable member telescoping or sliding relative to the posts ofthe non-moving member, thereby attaining simplicity and compactness ofconstruction.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the non-movingmattress-supporting member is carried by a frame, the legs of which aretubular, whereas the movable mattress-supporting member -is equip e witha frame the legs of which are tubulin', also, and are adapted to slideor telesco e within the first named tubular legs. Said sliding legs areprovided with racks, with which are meshed certain gear pinions on twotransverse shafts, the latter being incased within tubular transversetie members of the frame for the non-moving mattress member. Saidtransverse shafts are provided, also, with worm gears, positionedpreferably centrally thereon and preferably also incased in boxings orhousings attached to or forming a part of the tubular tie members. Asingle operating shaft is provided, the same extending through andsupported by the boiings or housings, said operating shaft beingprovided with worms positioned in meshing engagement with worm ears ofthe transverse shafts and one end o said operating shaft bein furnishedwith a suitable operating mem er whereby the shaft may be rotated asdesired for the purpose of raising or lowering the movablemattresssupporting member.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the drawings.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in vertical section of a folding bedconstructed in accordance with my invention, the full lines showing thebed in folded or collapsed condition, and the dotted lines illustratingthe movable mattress-supporting member as raised a suitable heightabove.the non-movable mattress-supporting member for the purpose ofenabling the bed to be occupied by two persons.

Fig. 2 is a plan View partly in horizontal section through a part of thebed, the plane of the section being indicated by the irregular dottedline 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken through the telescopicposts of the two bed frames, the plane of the section being indicated'bythe dotted line 3--3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section through the worm gearing taken in theplane of the dotted line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

The lower mattress-supporting member AV members 10, cross members 11,12, head posts 13 and foot posts 14, the side members 10 being united tothe cross members 11, 12 by fittings 15. The head posts 13 and footposts 14 are tubular in order that the correspond-- Aing posts of theframe for the upper movable mattress member may slide or telescopewithin the corner posts of the frame for the non-movablemattress-supporting member A. In a similar manner the transverse tiemembers 11, 12 of the frame for the nonmovable mattress member A arehollow or tubular, as shown in Fig. 2, for the accommodation of thetransverse shafts adapted to impart movement to the frame of the uppermattress-supporting member B, and, furthermore, the transverse tubularmembers 11, 12 are constructed with gear boxings or casings 16, 17, seeFig. 2.

The upper mattress-snpporting member B is attached to a frame post ofside member 18 and transverse members 19 and corner posts 20, 21, saidparts being rigidly united together. As shown, the corner posts 13providedfor the support of the non-adjustable mattress member A at thehead of the bed extend upwardly for a considerable distance above thecorner posts 14 provided at the foot of the bed for supporting the sameframe, but, obviously, the corner posts 14 may be extended upwardly likethe posts 13, or the head posts 13 may be of equal height to the footposts 14.

The upwardly extending head posts 13 are provided with slots 22, and theposts 20 for the frame of the member B are housed or incased within thetubular posts 13, certain parts of the frame for said member B slidingwithin the slots 22 of the head posts. The posts 14 for the frame of themember A are open at their upper ends so that the posts 21 forming apart of the frame for the member B may enter and slide freely withinsaid tubular foot posts 14, and thus the head and foot posts of theupper member B are adapted to slide or telescope readily within thetubular head and foot posts of the lower member A, whereby the twomembers A B are assembled and retained in parallel relation withthemember B above the member A so as to be movable with respect thereto.

The structure embodies a simple and eficient hoisting mechanismperforming the function also of locking the movable supporting member Bin a raised position. Said hoisting mechanism comprises an operatingshaft 23 and a plurality of transverse shafts 24, 25. The operatingshaft 23 is preferably a single continuous shaft extending lengthwise ofthe bed structure, substantially centrally thereof, and below the memberA so as to be entirely out of the way, the respective end portions ofsaid shaft 23 being journaled in suitable bearings afforded by the gearcasings or housings 16, 17. Near its respective end portions theoperating shaft is provided with worms 26, endwise movement of the shaftrelative to the gear boxings 16, 17 being precluded by the employment ofcollars 27. One end ofthe shaft 23 terminates within the boxingSQ-,lbutthe other end of the shaft is extended "beyond the boxing 16 for thereception of a suitable operating member, such as the crank 28, thelatter being detaehably fitted to the protruding end of the shaft andlocked thereto by means of a pin 29.

Each cross shaft 24 or 25 extends through one of the tubular tie membersof the frame associated with member A, said cross shaft extendingthrough one of the gear boxings 16 or 17 and through openings in thefittings 15, said shaft being journaled in said fitting 15 and in thegear boxing 16 or 17. Said shaft extends above the operating shaft 23and it is provided intermediate its ends with a worm gear 30, the lattermeshing with one of the worms 26 on the operating shaft 23, as

shown more particularly in connection with the left hand worm gearingand the two shafts of Fig. 4. The end portions of each transverse shaftextend through slots 31 provided in the foot posts or the headposts,said end portions of each cross shaft being provided with gears 32, thelatter meshing with racks 33 provided interiorly of the tubular slidingposts forming parts of the frame for the upper movable section.

In this connection it will be understood that the tubular sliding postsof the frame for the moving section B are provided with slots 31 andwith interior racks 32; that the cross shafts 24, 25 extend through thetubular members 11, 12 of the frame for the nonmoving section; that saidcross shafts 24, 25 are geared intermediate their ends to the operatingshaft 23 by the worm and worm gears 26, 30, respectively; that therespective end portions of the cross shafts 24, 25 extend into thetubular sliding posts 20, 21 of the movable frame section, and that theend portions of said cross Shafts 24, 25 are provided with gears whichmesh directly with said racks 33 on the sliding posts of the frame forthe upper movable member B.

The. Operation of the invention will be apparent from the precedingdescription taken in connection with the drawings, but it may besummarized as follows: Assuming that the mattress member B is in alowered position so as to lie close to the mattress member A, and thatit is desired to raise said member B from the full line position of Fig.1 to the dotted line position of the same figure, the operator appliesthe crank 28 and locks the same to one end of the shaft 23. Said shaftis rotated for the purpose of imparting motion to the worms 26 which inturn drive the worm gears 30 and Vbesagen? tated simultaneously and atequal speeds. The motion of the cross shafts 1s communicated by thegears and racks to the sliding posts 20, 2l, and thus the frame and themattress-supporting member B are raised to the desired position. Theposts 20, 21 are operated by the hoisting mechanism Aso as to travel atthe same speed and these posts slide in the tubular posts 13,14 so as tomaintain the member B in a horizontal position, tlius retaining themembers A, Bin parallel relation. The desired form of gearinggrovidesmeans whereby the upper sectlon may be raised or lowered withvery little effort on the part of the operator, but in this.v connectionattention is directed to' the fact that the worms 26 and worm gears 30cooperate in retaining the member B in said raised locked 1n theposition to which it may be adjusted without resorting to the employmentof independent or separate locking devices. Should it be desired tolower the section B into close relation tothe section A, the crank isturned in an opposite direction for the purpose of operating the shaftsand gears, so as to lower the posts of the movable frame member withinthe posts of the non-movable frame member, thus enabling the member B tobe brought into compact and parallel relation to the member A, wherebythe bed structure presents the appearance of a single bed and takes uppractically the same amount of room as the single bed structure.

The parts of my invention are simple in construction, easy of operation,efiicient and reliable in service, and economical of manufacture. Ifdesired, the several parts may be detachably connected by means shown inthe drawings so as to provide for packing the parts in compact relationfor shipment or storage, but at the same time the parts of the entirestructure may be easily and quickly assembled in order to set up the bedfor use.

Although Ivhave shown a form of worm gearing as the hoisting mechanism,it is to be understood that I am at liberty to use any other form ofgearing such as spiral gears for performing the functions of hoistingand locking the movable section, and accordingly the same is within thescope of m invention.

aving thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a folding bed, the combination of a frame. provided with hollowcorner posts, a stationary mattress support on said frame, a secondframe provided with corner posts the latter being fitted slidably withinsaid hollow corner posts, a movable mattress support carried by thesecond frame, a plurality said eountershafts and osition, whereby thememberB isof countershafts, one at each end of the bed and eachcountershaft extending continuouslly transversely to said bed, meansoperative y connecting the end portions of said countershafts to thecorner posts'of the second frame, whereby the motion of thecountershafts is communicated simultaneously tosaid cornerposts and thesecond frame is adapted to hoist the'movable mattress support whileretaining the latter in parallelism to the'stationary mattress support,a single operating shaft extending longitudinally of the bed, the endportions of which operating shaft arev in crossing relation to saidcountershafts, .and worm gearing intermediate the operating shaft, saidworm caring operatingtorestrain each 4c( u'ntersha from rotation underthe load upon the elevation of said second frame.

2. In a ,folding bed, the combination of a frame provided'with hollowcorner posts, a stationary` mattress support thereon, a seclond framelprovided with corner posts the latter being tted slidably within saidhollow corner posts, a movable mattress sup? port on said Asecondjframe,a, plurality of countershats one at each end of the first frame, each Ycountershaft be' geared two corner posts of the second rame, a sin- YO'le operating shaft the respective end pori tions of which cross saidcountershats, and worm gearing operatively connectin said .operatingshaft'with said countersha for transmitting the power so as to equallyraise the several corner portions of the second frame, said worm gearingoperating to restrain from rotation the counter-shafts under the loadimposed thereon when the second frame is elevated.

3. In a folding bed, the combination of a frame embodying hollow postsat its several corners and tubular' cross members connecting 'saidposts, a stationary mattress support on said frame, a second framerovided with cprner posts the latter being s idable within said hollowposts of the first frame, a movable mattress support on the secondframe, a plurality of countershafts one at each end of said bed andincased by said tubular cross members, the end portions of eachcountershaft being operatively connected to two slidable posts of thesecond frame, a single shaft running lengthwise of the bed and with itsend portions in crossing relation to said oppositely positionedcountershafts, and worm gearing operatively connecting said single shaftwith the two countershafts whereby power is applied to the severalcorners of the second frame for positively and equally elevating thesame, said worm gearing'operating to restrain from rotation the twocountershafts under the load imposed thereon upon the elevation of thesecond fra-me.

4. In a folding bed, the combination of a frame provided with hollowcorner posts and with hollow cross members, the latter havinggear-housings intermediate the ends thereof, a plurality ofcountershafts one being int-used by the hollow cross member at each endof said frame, a second frame provided with slotted corner posts fittedslidably within the hollow posts of the first fra-me so that the endportions of the Countershafts pass through said slots, rack and gearconnections between -each corner post of the. second f ame and an endportion of 011e countershat't so that the power to hoist the secondframe. is applied equally to the several corner portions of said secondframe, a statlonar f mattress support on the first frame, a movablemattress support on the second frame, a single shaft the end portions tof which cross the two countershafts and are journaled in the gearhousings, and Worm gearing operatively connecting the countersha ttswith the single shaft, said worm gearing operating to restrainfromrotation the two eountershafts under the load imposed thereon by theeleif'ation of the second frame.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

ELIZABETH C. BROWN.

